Everything on She-Hulk: Attorney at Law has led to this. Every character we’ve met, every storyline we’ve teased, every iota of self-growth, it all came together in the eighth and penultimate episode of the show, “Ribbit and Rip It.” A seemingly disconnected story about a hero named Leapfrog became the basis for Jen and She-Hulk co-existing in heroic fashion, Jen’s love life to find a worthy match, and a cliffhanger ending shooting the show toward the end of the season.
After a “Previously On” that basically recapped the entire season, She-Hulk began with another green superhero. His name is Leapfrog, played by Brandon Stanley, and as he hops around a parking lot trying to foil two men stealing a television, he lights himself on fire. Leapfrog, real name Eugene, wants to sue the person who designed what he believes to be a faulty costume. That person is Luke Jacobson (Griffin Matthews), and so he goes to She-Hulk who, as we know, also employs Luke for superhero clothing. She really tries to get out of it due to a conflict of interest but her boss, Mr. Hollaway (Steve Coulter), forces her to take a case that she doesn’t want. Again.
It’s a bad situation for Jen/She-Hulk because she has a big gala coming up and Luke is designing her a gown. Actually, Luke “was” designing it is more accurate. When he hears Jen even begin to question the quality of his work, he rips the dress up and vows to never make clothes for her again. All because Jen’s boss, for the second time, forced her to do something she didn’t want to do.
The case quickly goes to court and, because multiple episodes ago we saw Luke was making a costume for Daredevil, it’s no surprise when Matt Murdock (Charlie Cox) comes in to represent him. Matt quickly gets Eugene to admit the costume malfunction was his fault so Jen not only loses the case, she loses the only person who can make her clothes. It’s been a bad day so she goes to the bar to drown her sorrows and runs into Matt. The two flirt a bit, Matt really seems to understand her as a person, and Jen even turns to the camera to acknowledge there are some sparks there. But, unfortunately, Matt has to leave suddenly before things can go to the next level.
Quick, She-Hulk-esque aside here: during his statements, Matt mentions that the Sokovia Accords have been repealed—which, if I’m correct, is the first time in the MCU we’ve acknowledged that. It makes sense of course. After a mad tyrant from space destroyed half of existence, the Avengers didn’t get government approval to travel back in time to defeat him. Nice to finally have that piece of the puzzle in place.
Kind on the flip side of that, one piece of the episode that did not really forward much of anything—at least so far—was when Todd (Jon Bass) called Jen for a meeting. It’s been well-established across several episodes that this guy is a rich, weird creep and he’s probably, ultimately, the show’s big bad. But here he gives Jen what seems to be very superfluous information. Apparently he spent a million dollars on a Wakandan war spear, but the Wakandans want it back because it was stolen by colonizers. He also brags about studying abroad in the country, which we’re pretty sure is not true since it’s only been a few years that it’s been publicly acknowledged as a super power, and tries to co-opt the “Wakanda Forever” gesture. Which is only the second most uncomfortable thing Todd does in the scene, right behind trying to nuzzle up to Jen, who quickly leaves. Again, very interesting pieces of information from a Marvel lore standpoint but, at this point, still unrelated to everything else.
That “everything else” brings things back to Leapfrog, who calls Jen complaining that he’s being attacked. She’s about to go save him when she stops and, finally, puts on her supersuit the show has been teasing for weeks. Like we said, it’s all coming together right?
The truth of Leapfrog’s situation is that he’s being chased by a mysterious figure in a suit we saw in a box a few episodes ago because he’s kidnapped Luke. This stranger and She-Hulk fight and when she finally gets her hands on him it’s revealed that it’s actually Matt Murdock. The two banter, Matt explains a bit of his powers, and triumphantly reveals that he’s called Daredevil. When he said it you could practically hear the cheers from Marvel fans on their couches across the world.
Daredevil and She-Hulk decide to team up to rescue Luke who is being held in Leapfrog’s “secret lair,” the Lily Pad. Which is super duper secret right down to the huge neon sign on the roof that says “Lily Pad.” The two strategize and figure out that a) Jen has never actually done any real superhero stuff yet, so Matt should probably take the lead, and b) Matt’s abilities are freakishly cool, like counting people by hearing their heartbeats. He hears Jen’s heartbeat too and it’s surprisingly fast. Hmmm.
Matt—dressed as Daredevil in his “ketchup and mustard” suit—enters the Lily Pad and begins to kick ass. The scenes in a hallway are meant to evoke those early Netflix Daredevil episodes, but frankly the action isn’t really up to that level. It’s a nice homage though and when Daredevil seems to be overwhelmed, She-Hulk smashes in to help him.
As the pair continue their rescue, they discuss possible defense pleas between punches and the mix of superhero action and lawyer speak is “really doing it” for Jen. Eventually the day is won, Luke is freed and agrees to work with She-Hulk again, and the two lawyers turned heroes meet on the roof for a chat. Matt has to go back to New York the next day but tells Jen he’d love to have dinner with her next time he’s in town. Jen has something a bit more immediate in mind and we smash cut to Jen and Matt, still in full Daredevil costume, making out and going back to Jen’s apartment. She-Hulk smash, indeed.
The next morning, after we get a perfect shot of Daredevil doing the walk of shame, Jen turns to camera and is surprised it’s still there. She says it feels like that should be the end of the episode. Quickly though, she realizes that the gala is coming which means next week is the finale episode and whatever is about to happen is the big twist of the season. “But the question is, is the twist there’s another Hulk but this one is red, or like, I’m getting fridged?” Jen asks in yet another excellent acknowledgment of overblown fan expectations.
She-Hulk enters the gala, looking fabulous in her new gown. She’s happy to see her parents there, and less happy to see creepy Todd there. Once inside a very patronizing presenter seems to name her Female Lawyer of the Year, only for it to be revealed that every woman nominated wins the award. Which, again, seems patronizing. As each woman answers her own sexist question, that twist the show has been leading to all season finally happens.
The Intelligencia guys interupt the awards show to reveal the “truth” about She-Hulk in the form of all her personal messages, interactions, and videos on her phone. Including one of her and former flame Josh about to have sex. It’s a disgusting, uncalled for display and Jen is so mad about it she smashes the monitors. This puts the whole gala in danger and as Jen chases one of the men seemingly behind it, she’s stopped by what look like soldiers from Damage Control. They turn their guns on the raging She-Hulk, who turns to the camera with a look of confusion and fear. How did she get to this point? Who are these people and why do they want to do this to her? One more episode to find out.
“Ribbit and Rip It” truly did bring everything She-Hulk: Attorney at Law has been leading to together. If not for her self-discovery and confidence boosting, Jen could not have done all the things she does as She-Hulk. The Daredevil reveal works because it was carefully seeded. Seeing Jen happy with a guy makes us happy because we’ve seen the other side of it. And, ultimately, to see this long-awaited, hateful, misogynist plan unfold leaves us just as angry and confused as she is. Now we just have to see who is behind it all, what She-Hulk is going to do about it, and how things are left for her to intergreate further in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Random Thought
Who is Leapfrog’s father? It’s because of the power and influence of his father that She-Hulk gets into the whole mess of episode in the first place, but he’s never specifically named. In the comics the father’s name is Vincent Patilio and he’s also a Leapfrog—but we have a feeling in this world, he’s going to be more powerful and nefarious than that. Maybe even someone in Echo or Daredevil: Born Again? We’ll see.
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